Politics State of the Union Firsts
posted by on January 23 at 9:56 AM
Tonight, when the House of Representatives’ Sergeant at Arms announces the arrival of the president, he will, for the first time in history, say: “Madam Speaker, the President of the United States.”
And for the first time since Bush took office, viewers of the speech won’t be looking at an image like this…
…but instead will see House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seated in Denny Hastert’s old spot. All eyes will be on Pelosi’s expressions and her moments of applause (and non-applause). And more than a few eyes will probably remain on her wardrobe.
I’ll be liveblogging the speech here beginning at 6 p.m.
And in another State of the Union first, Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott will join me here on Slog after the speech to give his impressions and answer a few questions.
Good, cause I'm skipping it. The last time I did the Bush drinking game, I was hammered after 15 minutes from taking a drink (just a swig) for each lie he told.
I might watch for the Weber response, I don't know.
Oh, and I have a question about that. Can someone tell me why the response is always delivered directly to a single camera by a guy standing in front of some books? It always comes off as so completely dead and stiff after the whole crowd-response thing in the House.
Not that I don't like books and people who stand in front of them, but wouldn't it be better politics to rent a theater or something, fill it with supporters, let them watch the SOTU on the big screen, and then deliver the rebuttal in front of a live audience? I realize you're not supposed to upstage the president and wah wah wah, but come on, aren't we past the point where anyone can make legitimate complaints about any bit of politics being too theatrical?
If you did it with an audience, there wouldn't be any room left over for the forest of American flags. And then someone might think you're a commie or something.
I can't even look at pictures of our moron chimp-in-chief. These "speeches," and I use that term loosely, just make me want to put my fist through the TV screen.
Blech.
Given the joke that the State of the Union speech is we should go back to how it was done in the pre-Wilson Presidency stage. The President wrote out a statement and sent it to Congress. The President did not travel to the hill and make a huge presentation of it and ironically the statement focused on... get this... the State of the Union. It was not some damn laundry list of stuff the President will not get in the first place.
Given the joke that the State of the Union speech is we should go back to how it was done in the pre-Wilson Presidency stage. The President wrote out a statement and sent it to Congress. The President did not travel to the hill and make a huge presentation of it and ironically the statement focused on... get this... the State of the Union. It was not some damn laundry list of stuff the President will not get in the first place.
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